Meeting Peter
by RayKay72
Summary: What does Neverland want with Henry? Here's a theory. SPOILERS for Season 2 finale.
1. Chapter 1- The Lost Boys

**Peter Pan was always honestly my first crush when I was 6, so I was so sad to learn he may be a bad guy in the next season. Still, I love how OUAT turns fairly tales on their ears. My version of how Henry meets Peter for the first time. Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or any of its characters. **

Henry staggered as Greg pulled him up the beach. Tamara walked ahead, scanning for someone or something. His legs still felt like jelly and a ringing echoed in his ears. The sensation of flying through the portal was slowly easing from his senses.

It had been worse than falling, Henry thought as his feet dragged along the sand. When the portal took hold, it was as though the air had been ripped from his lungs. A green light flashed before him, but when he squeezed his eyes shut, it only seemed to penetrate his thoughts and race around his mind.

He shook his head to clear the memory. The three of them landed on a beach. By the way Greg and Tamara were able to walk so quickly after landing, Henry guessed this was not their first time traveling via portal.

"So, you guys come this way a lot?" Henry asked as nonchalantly as he could. The corner of Greg's mouth hitched up a bit, but he did not answer.

For the first time, Henry looked around. To his left was a vast ocean, unbelievably blue and pristine. _No escape that way_, he thought. To his right, the coves spread out to a green landscape, filled with lush trees and plants. Off in the distance, the earth rose to a high peak that looked familiar to Henry, but he could not place it. He thought back to his beloved book that sat in his room at his grandparents' loft. Nope, this was not in the Enchanted Forest.

Henry turned to Greg. "You want to give me an idea of where we are?"

Greg opened his mouth, but then froze. Henry followed his gaze to see a group of older boys standing on the rocks ahead of them. He watched as Tamara raised her hands, as if she meant no harm. Henry snorted to himself. _Careful guys, she's a great liar,_ he thought. Henry stared at her again, wondering how she could ever hurt his father, a father he'd barely had time to know. Henry bit his lip. He didn't have time to think like that now.

From the panicked conversations of Greg and Tamara before they jumped into the portal, Henry knew Storybrooke and his family were safe. That also meant they would be coming for him. He KNEW that for a fact. He just had to find a way to help them along. If that meant hanging out with the woman who may have killed his dad, then so be it, for now.

The boys, hooded in cloaks, moved toward Tamara. They spoke in low tones, but Henry could tell they were not pleased. Tamara motioned back to Henry, and one of the boys – Henry guessed the leader – looked at him. No, strike that, the kid's look slammed into Henry as if he had suddenly grown two horns and a tail. _Uh oh_, he thought. _Whatever she is saying they are soooo buying it._

The leader of the boys strode to Henry. His blond hair straggled long over his face. Roughly, he grabbed Henry's chin and pulled it up to meet his gaze head on. Henry narrowed his eyes and returned his look with all the venom he could muster. The boy smiled slowly.

"So, you've found him," he said, his eyes never leaving Henry.

"HIM has a name, and it's Henry," Henry answered defiantly. The boy cocked his head for a moment before leaning down to meet Henry's gaze. "He'll be very pleased to see you, _Henry_," he hissed. Before Henry could ask who, the boy whipped out a bag and threw it over Henry's head.


	2. Chapter 2-The Shadow

The bag was rough and made it had for Henry to breath, but he refused, REFUSED to give in to his fear. He knew Emma had somehow saved his mom, and both of them – and probably his grandparents as well – were coming to get him. He just had to stay calm, and think of this as another adventure.

Henry did what he could to pay attention. He guessed there were about five boys along with Greg and Tamara. Though they tried to keep their voices low, Henry caught bits of their conversation.

"There was supposed to be no one but the boy left," one of them practically spat. "He was supposed to have no one."

"We have him here, that should be enough," Tamara hissed back.

_He was supposed to have no one. So they were gunning for his family with the destruction of Storybrooke_, he thought. _Buy why? _

Henry could feel the air growing cooler, and the sunlight vanish from his skin. He guessed they were in a cave, or headed underground. He listened closely for the sound of the ocean, but it seemed to be receding into the distance. Thinking quickly, he pretended to stumble to the ground. Arms reached for him, but not before he felt a rock at his foot, grabbed it and slammed it into the soft earth, right on top of his scarf. As he was yanked up, he yelped loudly to cover the sound of the sound of the scarf ripping. He hoped it would be enough of a sign, a small trail for his mom and Emma to find.

He was about to try again, when they stopped. From inside the bag on his head, Henry heard the sound of a level being pulled. Something slid open, with great reluctance, and Henry felt himself being pulled down.

Roughly, someone shoved Henry down onto a not-so-comfortable flat rock.

"Ooooof!" Henry puffed. "Hey, if I'm so darned important, think maybe someone could take this bag off my head?" he called out. A moment later, the burlap was tugged off his head. They were underground. It looked like a cave to Henry, but there was barely any light. Something cold drifted in the air, though Henry wondered how an icy breeze could surface on a tropical island.

Henry lifted his bound hands. "And, uh, these?" It was the blond boy who sliced through the plastic with a wicked-looking knife. Henry made a mental note to get one of those as soon as he could.

_"I don't think that will help you_," a voice hissed. Henry's eyes snapped up. The voice was as clear as day, but Henry could have sworn he heard it _in his head_.

"And why is that?" he answered loudly.

The boy in front of him narrowed his eyes. "I cut your bonds because you said you wanted it, oh important Henry," he sneered.

_"Ignore him, I often do," _the voice whispered, and Henry tried his best not to smile. He heard a slight gasp. _"So you can hear me, then?"_

Henry looked at the boy in front of him, who still wore the same mocking expression. Whatever the voice was, no one seemed to be able to hear it but Henry. He wasn't sure what it meant, whether the voice could help or not, but it was something. Henry slowly nodded.

A wind rushed past all of them, and they all looked up anxiously. "He's here," the boys whispered, and all of them lowered their eyes to the ground.

"LEAVE US," the voice boomed, and echoed across the walls of the underground cave. THAT time, Henry knew everyone could hear it. They began to scatter. "NOT YOU, TAMARA," it added. She stopped and turned back.

"IS THE MISSION COMPLETE?" the voice demanded. Tamara looked down.

"No, sir. The town survives."

Henry's heart sank. This voice would not be helping him. It was leading Tamara and Greg. _Great_, thought Henry, and before he could help himself added¸ _Yeah, sorry your minions didn't get to kill everyone I love, you big jerk._

The wind rushed again. Tamara, oblivious to Henry's thoughts added, " But we brought you the boy, and I …."

"GO, NOW," the voice commanded, and she did, quickly.

As soon as the trap door closed above him, Henry sighed. "So, you gonna come out from your hiding place, or are you just going to read my thoughts all day?" he called.

The voice laughed, and Henry was startled at how it sounded like a real laugh, not sinister like before.

_"Are you sure you want to see me, Henry? Are you sure it won't scare you?" _the voice asked. For a moment, it actually sounded … well … concerned.

"Yeah, that thought would have probably been better to say before you tried to blow up my family, kidnapped me and jammed me through a magic portal," Henry snapped.

His words were met with silence, and Henry wondered if he'd gone too far. Then, in the corner of his eyes, he caught a flicker of something. He turned to see, or BARELY see, a shape hovering in the air. As Henry tried to concentrate on it, it drifted, almost flashed, between a smoky darkness and something that looked ghostly translucent. Henry squinted to get a better look. "What are you?" he asked.

"_I…I used to be a boy, like you,_" the figure drifted closer to Henry. _"But I was cursed a long, long time ago." _As it moved closer to him, Henry felt himself step away. The figure stopped. _"I don't want to hurt you, Henry. I've been waiting for you for a long time."_

"Who are you?" Henry asked, still too leery to let it closer.

_"You can call me Peter."_


	3. Chapter 3 -Shadow and Light

Recognition lighten Henry's features. "Are you…are you Peter Pan?"

The figure seemed to bounce a bit. _"You can call me that. No one has called me that for a long time. I used to be Peter, back before I was cursed." _It drifted slowly to the ground. When it flickered to a pale light, Henry could just make out the outline of a face – a young boy's face, probably not too much younger than he was.

"How did you get like this?" Henry asked.

The figure drifted for a moment, then spoke quietly. _"When I was a boy, I discovered a mermaid. A real mermaid! I captured her and kept her, which did not make her family too happy. They came for her – ugh family – and they cursed me here, destined to live as shadow and light, never as a person, until I could find one strong enough to free me. And they told me I would wait a long time."_

Henry gulped. "How long has it been?"

_"Oh gosh, I guess about 500 years, give or take," _Peter said. Henry's mouth dropped open._ "The good news is, no one ages here, so it hasn't seemed that long."_

"So this is Neverland," Henry said quietly, suddenly remembering where he'd seen the tall peek. "Was that Mermaid Lagoon?"

_"Yup they still guard me," _Peter suddenly perked up with a bit of pride. _"I can show you the whole place. You're going to love it here."_

Henry waved his hands. "Um, I am not going to stay. I have to go and find my family. They are probably worried sick about me."

_"Your family_," Peter said in what Henry thought sounded a bit like disgust. _"They won't belong here, Henry. That's why I didn't want them following you_." The figure drifted slowly, inching toward Henry. _"What good is family anyway?"_

"What GOOD is family? Are you kidding me?" Henry yelped. "You try to kill off everyone I know, so what, I can come and play in the lagoons with you? What is your deal? I am out of here!" He turned to go and tried to grab for the lever to release the trap door.

The figure dashed in front of him. "_You can't go Henry, none of us can leave, not even me." _Henry let go of the lever.

"You're trapped in Neverland?" Henry asked.

_"We were, but now you're here. You and I Henry, we'll set everyone free."_

Henry narrowed his eyes. "How?"

The figure drifted up quickly, seeming to dance before him. _"It's YOU, Henry. You were chosen long, long ago to end my curse – the curse of Neverland. But it isn't really a curse – we can stay here and never grow up, never forget what it is like to be young. We can both have that, really have it. We just have to forget all we were and become one person."_


	4. Chapter 4 - The Way Out

"I'm sorry, what?" Henry found himself backing away again.

The figure appeared oblivious to Henry's reaction. _"Yep! I'll be the shadow and you'll be the substance. A native chief told me all about it. He's a great medicine man, and said he could perform the ceremony. Something about how my soul is just lingering without form, but you'll be my form. So we'll both be Peter!"_

Henry had no idea how to react. He's seen some twisted fairy tales, but he had no idea Peter Pan would be a puff of smoke who was utterly nuts. Peter just kept dancing along and babbling with joy.

_"I can't leave, but I figured out long ago that my shadow side can travel far and wide. I sent it out to find boys, as many as it could , and bring them back here to see if I could find you. The medicine man made a picture of you, it's a good likeness too. But my shadow could not really tell what you looked like, so it just grabbed boys of strong spirit. But it could NEVER find you!"_

Henry felt sick. He thought of years – centuries – of boys being kidnapped by some floating shadow in an effort to find HIM.

"Why me?" Henry's voice squeaked a bit, but again, Peter took no notice.

_"Why you? You are the grandson of true love. Your mother is of magic and your father, Henry, your father was a boy of great spirit. I liked him a lot."_

"You…you knew my father?"

_"Of course! He stayed with me for a long while. In fact, if he had not come here, he never would have gone to meet your mother. We are MEANT to be joined, you and I!" _

Henry's shock quickly shot into anger."You knew him! You LIKED him! And you let him die?"

_"Bae is dead?" _The shadow hovered for a moment. _"Well, he was a grown up, so I am not surprised. I told him not to try and leave." _Peter's voice seemed unaffected, Henry thought in disgust. If he'd HAD shoulders, Henry guessed he would be shrugging them nonchalantly.

"Don't you even CARE? You killed my father!" Henry screamed at the mist.

The figure raced to float in front of Henry. _"Henry, soon all of this won't matter. You and I will be one – a whole and complete Peter, and we'll rule all of Neverland."_

"You are a total nutcase, and I am LEAVING," Henry yelled, and yanked at the level. He looked up to see the boys – the Lost Boys, he thought – guarding the entrance.

_"I'm afraid you aren't going to go anywhere, Henry," _Peter seemed to sigh, before his voice turned soothing. _"Don't worry. Soon you won't be bothered by any of these things. Soon, you and I will be Peter." _


	5. Chapter 5 - A lily and a hope

**Chapter 5 – A lily and a hope**

Henry sat at the edge of the cave, trying not to let panic grip him. The Lost Boys took little notice of him, except to make sure he did not move from his spot. Henry noticed Greg slide next to him. He folded his arms.

"Go away," he said, trying not to sound like a frightened boy.

"Look, I know this is tough, but this ceremony they keep talking about. It will help us all," Greg said quietly.

"Really? How do you figure that, Greg?" he practically spat. "How is some weird ceremony that's going to bind me to a floating nutjob going to help? Hummmmm?"

Greg looked toward to the rolling waves of the ocean in the distance. "Because this ceremony will banish magic forever," he said quietly.

"Who told you that? The king of vapor back there? Yeah, he's the first person…being…whatever that I would trust," Henry yelled.

Greg shook his head. "He's helped us hunt down magical creatures that infected our world. He gave us the keys to defeating them. I've SEEN it."

Henry stared at him incredulously. "You are kidding, right? It never occurred to you that MAYBE you guys were hunting down the only beings that could defeat our Peter Phantom back there?" Greg's eyes shot to Henry, and he noted the wariness there. "Uh huh! So you HAVE thought about it."

Narrowing his eyes, Greg jumped up. "You don't understand what you are talking about. Magic took my father because of your mother. And if we don't stop it, it will take us all!" He stormed off.

"Another nutjob," Henry sighed.

A tray of food slowly slid toward Henry. He looked up to see a young girl around his age. Her fingers of dark olive brushed over Henry's as she untied his bonds. "You must eat, Peter," she said quietly. Henry looked at her. Her almond eyes reflected concern and something else…hope?

"Sorry, the name is Henry, and if this is part of the ceremony, you can keep it," he pushed the tray back to her across the gravel.

She looked down at the tray. "I'm sorry," she whispered, and the sorrow in her tone caught Henry's attention. "I've been looking at your picture for so long, and think of you as Peter."

"You've been looking at my picture? Why?" Henry asked.

Her eyes met his and she smiled. It was the warmest smile Henry had ever seen, and he noticed his stomach did a little flip flop. "Because you will be Peter, and I have been waiting so long to be with him."

Henry did his best not to roll his eyes. _Is anyone on this island not crazy?_ he thought. He looked down to the tray and saw a single flower – a lily. He focused on the girl before him. "Are you Tiger Lily?" he asked, and a small blush crept to her cheeks. She nodded. Henry paused for a moment. Emma was always telling him to go with his instincts, and right now his instincts were telling him Tiger Lily could be helpful. Of course, in the small amount of time he knew his dad, he learned another phrase, _Don't be fooled by a pretty face, Henry_, Neal said with a wink. Somewhere between trust and caution, Henry would have to find some answers from Tiger Lily.

Seeing the hopeful look in her eyes, Henry made a decision. "Tiger Lily, can you tell me what happened to Peter?"

She looked down, a sadness enveloping her. "Peter was once a boy, a wonderful boy full of life," she said wistfully. "His family lived near my people's village." She looked out to the horizon. "He was always looking for adventure. Always hoping the braves would take him on their next hunt. When his family died, our people took him in. He loved it there, and loved to go to the lagoons, though my father told him to stay away."

She fell into silence. "And that is where he captured the mermaid?" Henry asked, prodding her to continue. Tiger Lily looked at Henry in surprise, and nodded slowly.

"She was Alyesia, the daughter of the Queen of the Mermaids, who knew powerful magic," Tiger Lily said. "When she found Peter keeping her daughter in a small pond near our village," she was enraged and cursed Peter and all who knew him, sending us all here."

Henry watched her as she looked to the millions of stars shimmering in the night sky. "We did not know it was a curse at first. We thought Peter had saved us, taken to paradise where all our enemies were suddenly gone." She looked back at Henry. "For a time, Peter was Peter, and we were happy here." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Then he began to change. It was strange. You would be walking with him, and then suddenly lose focus of him. Other times he would shimmer and disappear before coming right back into view."

Tiger Lily traced a small pattern in the loose gravel. "He refused to believe us at first, laughing and saying what a good trick we were playing on him. Then he, too, began to notice." Henry realized she was drawing a small sun, with the rays coming off the perfectly round orb. "He began to drift from the light, seeking the darkness more and more." She brushed the sun away.

"My father went to see the mermaids in the lagoon. They laughed, and told him it was a curse, and we would all get to watch Peter fade from this world." Tiger Lily smiled, but it was not a smile that reached her eyes. "But Peter was strong, and fought the curse. He called up on our medicine man to help. Our medicine man was old, but very strong as well. He told Peter the only one who could help him break the curse was a boy with a spirit as strong as his." She glanced at Henry. "That would be you."

Henry sniffed. "Yeah, I heard how he dragged kids from all over for centuries to find me. Big honor," he said, not trying to hide his disgust.

Tiger Lily put a hand on his arm. "But that will all end soon. Soon, the medicine man will join you and Peter, and your spirit and his will be able to free all of us. Only together can the two of your break the curse."

"Or, if we look at it another way, I get to be possessed by a floating crackpot, and we're not sure the curse will even break," said Henry. He looked at the girl, who was taken aback by his words. "Sorry, Tiger Lily, but I have some experience with curses, and breaking them does not always end the way you think it will." He thought back to when Emma woke him from the dark sleep, but no one returned from Storybrooke to the Enchanted Forest.

"But this has to work. We waited so long," she whispered.

Henry patted her arm. "I know it's all a lot to take in, but let me tell you. My life has been a lot to take in for the past couple of years, and I do not intend to let it end this way."

Tiger Lily looked at Henry, and he really did feel for her. He knew what it was to have hope for something when all hope seems to be gone. "I have to ask, Tiger Lily, how did you all plan to leave once Peter and I were, ya know, Super Peter?"

She glanced at the ground, then to the far peak of the mountain. "Those of us who can would venture to the top of the mountain. It is said there is a way out there."

Henry stared at her. "Then why not go now? Why have you waited all these years?"

A single tear ran down her cheek. "Because I love Peter, and I want him back."


End file.
